Day 127 June 21st 2017
The Skissernas(literally sketches in Swedish) museum in Lund was a real treat that caught both of us unawares. In English the museum is described as “The Museum of Artistic Process and Public Art” This description differentiates it from other art galleries and museums because unlike the normal art museum they don’t always have a finished product but rather have set out to show how art is created.
It was founded in 1934 by Ragnar Josephson (1891-1966), during his time as a professor of art history at the University of Lund. His intention was to create an archive of the creative process, the artist’s path from first concept to finished works – that is what the Josephson meant by “artwork’s birth.” The idea was to collect sketches, models and photographs of public art, when it suited particularly well as study because it often requires many studies.The interesting thing is that even famous artists either gifted their conceptual work cheaply because it was the finished art piece that attracted the main income.
The museum has models of sculptures by Henry Moore, sketches for works by Christo, paintings by Fernand Léger and Diego Rivera, models of installations by Calder and space for newer artists as well.
The building itself stood on its own looking over a park and was very a modern structure compared to most of the buildings we had seen in Lund and was in distinct contrast to the University which it was once part of.
It had a very nice restaurant close to the entrance where we had a great lunch before venturing into the museum itself.
The entrance into the museum was a normal size door and not the grand entrance at all-however once inside the exhibition hall was huge and struck one immediately as there was a huge 30 feet high statue at one end of the hall , with the walls and ceiling covered in bright works of art with the floor dominated by sculptural works.A real sensory shock and a fabulous start to a pleasant stroll through the cavernous exhibition rooms.
The range of pieces were astonishing and the way they were presented, over awing and stimulating.It really did present the process of creativity and the work that goes into an individual piece.
